We’re all used to the idea that you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink, but when it comes to their thought leadership, far too many firms aren’t even getting that far.

Key account management is more important than ever. The areas of highest growth in professional services are in multidisciplinary services—work that cuts across the traditional service lines most firms are organised around. Clients think that the range of capabilities a firm brings to bear plays a key role in its ability to deliver a better, more innovative solution. As a result, the quality of a firm’s account management, together with its breadth of capabilities and ability to innovate, are now three of the most important factors clients consider when deciding which firm to hire.

It’s easy to see why creators of thought leadership might not be fans of tables of contents: They invest thousands of hours creating hundreds of perfect pages, only to see their work summarised in 10 simplistic headings that give the reader a licence to jump straight to number seven. Or, simply, to decide that there’s nothing worth reading at all. Tsk.